Reversal of Fortune

REVERSAL OF FORTUNEReview: Wealthy Sunny von Bulow lies on her bed in a coma. Her husband Claus a New York socialite is accused of killing his wife with an overdose of insulin. He says he’s innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Actors: Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Ron Silver
Year: 1990
Genre: Biography and DramaConclusion: 4/5Based on a book by Dershowitz and also based on a true story. There is no surprise for the outcome of this film. The question is if he wins, he keeps the fortune and lifestyle, but if he loses he could end his life in prison. You could look at this film as a black comedy. A very complex film to follow plus you have two very different characters from different cultures. As always Jeremy Irons is fantastic. Before this film he played Fr. Gabriel in The Mission (1986). The script is beautifully written by Alan M. Dershowitz (book) and Nicholas Kazan (screenplay). The director and the scriptwriters have not made a docudrama or a sermon, but a film about personalities. The flashbacks that Claus has are very well done. Three years after the release of this film Jeremy Irons met the real Claus von Bulow. Martha Sunny von Bulow spent the last 28 years of her life in a coma and died December 6th 2008 at the age of 76. Film critic Roger Ebert quoted in his review “Without nudging us, the film shows us two things. First, why a man might finally be tempted to allow his wife to slip into the oblivion she seems so desperately to desire. Second, how she could have accidently overdosed in any event.” At the Academy Awards in 1991 Jeremy Irons won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. At the Golden Globe Awards the same year Jeremy Irons won an award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100486/videoplayer/vi1839137049?ref_=tt_pv_vi_aiv_1